End of the Year Organization

End of the Year Organization

Today was my last day of school, so I had TONS of organization to do! When I heard Tracy King at Mrs. King's Music Class was hosting a linky party about end of the year organization, I decided I had to link up!My room was a bit of a mess for most of today. I've been inspired by The Clutter-Free Classroom's Guide to Organizing and Managing your Classroom, so I've been throwing out more than I have...

Tips for composing in the music room

Tips for composing in the music room

Recently, I worked with fifth graders to have them compose their own piece based off a haiku they had written in class. It was such a great learning experience....for them AND for me! Here are some thoughts I had after completing the unit:Students need to work at their own pace. Just like anything else, some students will really get it. Some of my students--even though I hadn't told them to--added...

Twitter Tips for Teachers

Twitter Tips for Teachers

I've been on Pinterest and Facebook for quite a while, and have felt very comfortable with both. Twitter, on the other hand, has been a bit of an enigma to me. The functionality of Twitter is a bit different, and in my circle of friends, there just aren't that many people on Twitter.Over the last few months, I've schooled myself in the ways of Twitter. I'm going to blog my suggestions about why and...

Five Favorite Pins of May

Five Favorite Pins of May

Hi everyone! It is time for my five favorite pins of May!Here are my five favorite pins this month. To see the pin, click each picture.#1: Plickers!I recently blogged about this amazing app, which I found out about on Pinterest. Click here to read the blog post! It does take a while to do the first assessment, but after that it gets easier as kids know what to do and how it works!#2: Techie TipSpeaking...

Living Kodaly's Vision

Living Kodaly's Vision

Hi everyone! Today, I'm blogging about how we as music educators can live Kodaly's vision.As Kodály-inspired teachers, we have learned much of Zoltan Kodály’s beliefs about music education. Indeed, many of us can quote Kodály’s ideas about folk music, singing, and the importance of early music education. But as we step into our music classrooms and take on the demands of musical programs, grades,...